Women’s volleyball suffers two losses against UFV
By Eric Wilkins, Sports Editor
The women’s volleyball team hosted the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) last weekend (January 24 and 25), but were unable to take a single set against the second-place Cascades. That being said, despite the results, there were positives that could be drawn from the games.
“I think there were some good things. We really competed with them for both nights. But again, we need to stop being that ‘young’ team and start bringing 100 per cent in every set,” commented coach Kyra Iannone following Saturday’s loss.
The Royals started the game with good energy, resulting in them hopping in front 8-3 early on, thanks in part to a pair of aces from Kalena Connors. UFV fought their way back though, eventually tying it up at 9-9. It stayed tight until the end of the set—never more than three points separating the two teams—but UFV ultimately took it 25-23.
In the second set, the Royals were again determined to stay in it. Some strong shots from Maddy Burt, Avneet Shokar, and Toni Vandenbrink kept the hosts close and even in the lead at times, but continuous pressure from UFV eventually wore them down. After being deadlocked at 19-19, the Cascades broke away to take the set 25-20.
In what was to be the final set, Douglas couldn’t quite keep the pace. After staying relatively close at 12-9, with two back-to-back miscues for the Royals the Cascades went on a six-point run that the hosts would be unable to recover from. Final score for the third was 20-15 for UFV.
“Last night we had a good night. Although we lost, it wasn’t a bad game to lose because we played well. Today for the first half of the night we played well and then by the end we took little tumbles. Tonight was way harder to lose than last night was,” said captain Tori Trim.
Comparing the two games against UFV, coach Iannone remarked that, “I think systematically and blocking-wise they did a way better job today. Serving-wise they did a way better job today. I just think accountability and off-ball defence needs to change a little bit for us to beat teams like that.”
With the team now heading on the road against Columbia Bible College (tied with Douglas for fifth), coach Iannone was, “really confident,” about her team’s chances—a sentiment shared by Trim, who felt that they could, “win both of them, for sure.”
